Two Chinese Nationals Charged With Using Stolen Identities to Buy and Lease Teslas, Removing GPS Trackers
Federal court records in Virginia show that two 25-year-old Chinese nationals, Jialiang Huang and Yaoxu Zhou, face federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. According to WTKR in Norfolk, Huang is a student at Virginia Tech. Prosecutors say the two men used stolen personal information to buy and lease numerous Tesla vehicles this past spring and summer.
Court records outline two incidents, in Henrico County and in Norfolk. Prosecutors allege that on May 16 the men went to a Tesla dealership in Norfolk and used a man's stolen identity to lease a Cybertruck, putting down more than $11,000. Tesla never received any further payments. The victim discovered what had happened when he checked his credit report and found an application for a car loan in his name, then contacted authorities.
Prosecutors say that after obtaining the cars, the men removed the vehicles' GPS systems and re-titled them in Montana using fraudulent documents, making it harder for authorities to locate them. They also say the pair worked with others, including one person in China and another man now jailed in California on related charges. Arrest warrants have been issued for both men. Legal analyst Sonny Stallings told local media the scheme appeared carefully planned rather than improvised. The charges are allegations at this stage; both men are presumed innocent unless convicted.
(Compiled from WTKR and the Los Angeles Post)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 特斯拉Cybertruck（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Dllu 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权
